


Second Place

by roxasthatsastick



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen, Written Pre-Kingdom Hearts III, old fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2020-07-09 10:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19886125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxasthatsastick/pseuds/roxasthatsastick
Summary: Ventus was saved by a different heart fourteen years ago and the worlds have changed for it. Fourteen years later, Riku is struggling to get back in first place against his best friend Sora, and the door is about to open...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is ooold fic, and i have tried to rewrite it once or twice, but there's better versions of this concept out there. that doesn't mean I'm not proud of it though haha, so here it is! ive been meaning to transfer it from ff.net for ages now

The water (or maybe air) brushed past him quickly… Which was a strangely familiar feeling, now that Riku thought about it. As he began to slow down, he opened his eyes…

...and remembered nothing more. Riku sighed as he sat up in bed, groaning at the mostly blocked rays of light. He knew he had dreamt about something important, and yet he couldn't remember one dang thing. This once he wanted to have something interesting to talk about that wouldn't lead to some grand mess for them to clean up.

Of course, that wasn't saying Riku wasn't interested in building the raft and getting off this stupid island. It's just that it was hard work building it, and Sora goofed off every chance he got, even though he was taller and could get to some of the materials and supplies easier than him and Kairi. Riku just wanted something to keep from getting frustrated with the progress.

Riku paused as he got dressed in the early morning light. Sora. It was always Sora.

Sora was always in the middle of something or another and he never seemed to learn his lesson. Riku usually would get wrapped up in it, whether he liked it or not. If he didn't know better he'd think that Sora was the younger one but that wasn't the case here. Of course, Kairi was the one that bailed them out most of the time, being a 'voice of reason'. Supposedly. At least it worked.

Riku grabbed a granola bar and bag he had some sandwiches for lunch in, and slipped out the back door. The sun had only risen about half hour ago so the island would be empty, allowing him to eat in peace.

He had no doubt that would be the last of it he'd get all day.

The trip over to the island was getting easier each year, but rather than make him feel stronger, Riku felt like the world was shrinking. In a few years, how small would this island feel? Will the raft bring them beyond those limits he had glimpsed for the first time all those years ago? Riku took a small bite of his quickly shrinking granola bar.

"Hey Riku! You're here early! Can't wait to work, huh?"

Riku choked loudly and turned around to see the cheerful face of Sora. "Why are you here so early? I thought you'd sleep in considering how _hard_ you have worked in the last few days?" Riku jabbed, irritated that Sora had surprised him so much. Dang it, this was supposed to be his last vestige of peace before...this!

"Well, y'know, it seemed like such a nice day..." Sora turned to face the ocean. "We're almost done with the raft. We might not get to this view too much more."

Riku frowned at Sora's downhearted look. This was going to be an adventure not a death sentence! "Well, we will get to see new views ones we have never seen before! Doesn't that sound even better?"

Sora grinned a little. "Yeah, I guess. I just want to remember this so I can compare them all to it."

Riku smirked. "Well, how about you actually remember to grab your share of supplies today and not just nap all day long?"

"Oh, come on Riku! We still have some time left before the raft's done! And it isn't like I was trying to sleep!"

"But-" Riku froze.

Sora turned around. "Riku?"

"Did you hear that?" Riku looked around pensively, trying to locate the source of his unease.

"Riku, are you trying to scare me? You know that won't work-"

 _Don't be afraid_...

Riku ran as quickly as he could to catch up with the voice. Those words were familiar, and he had to know their meaning.

"Riku?! Why are you running off like that?" Sora called after him, following him toward.

Was it coming from the Secret Place? Riku ducked down and slowed slightly as he tried to fit through the tight cavern. He was close now...

 _You are the one who will open the door_...

Finally in the main cavern, he found nothing but the mysterious door and the drawing they had added over the years. Riku sighed, there was no sign if anyone had been here at all. He walked slowly toward the door, regretting his slow speed. "This door sure is odd."

Sora panted having just caught up. "Is that all you came to see?"

"Well,it certainly is interesting, is it not?"

Sora and Riku swiveled around to face the newcomer. "Where'd you come from?" Riku shot at him.

"Nowhere in particular, I am simply here to see the door," the hooded figure responded dodging the question easily.

Sora frowned. "Why would you want to see that old thing? It doesn't even have a doorknob!"

The figure laughed darkly at them.

Riku grew more frustrated. "Why are you laughing, old man?"

"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

Riku jumped, was he actually... "What is behind the door then?"

Was it his imagination, or was he smirking?! "There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."

Riku almost jumped to hit that creepy old man, but Sora held him back. "Well, that doesn't matter!" Sora replied as much to calm him as to refute the figure. "We're gonna learn about it all! Whether you like it or not!"

"Hmph. A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing-"

"How do you know? What do you know about what we know, I think I know more than you!" Riku yelled.

"Yeah!"

"Then open the door. Perhaps you will find what you are looking for behind it."

Riku and Sora both glanced at the door, but the man was gone when they next looked. "Wh- where'd he go?" Sora mumbled.

Riku looked calculatingly at the door, feeling the same as Sora probably was. There was no way he could leave that quickly without them noticing. So how...? "I think this door requires a bit more looking at."

"I'll say..." Sora said slowly. Sora turned to look at him.

Riku nodded in return. They would be coming back here later today. After they got some work done. And speaking of... "Hey Sora, Kairi's probably here by now."

Sora blinked and then gasped loudly. "Oh no, she's gonna think we sleep in! She said she'd make me catch all the fish if I was!"

Riku laughed, all of the pressure from the encounter gone. "Kairi will follow through with _that_ threat, I'm sure of it."

"Aw man, I'm terrible at fishing!" Sora threw up his hands in despair.

"Race ya to the raft, you win and we'll split the fishing." Riku knew he couldn't refuse an offer like that. He would get his revenge for the match yesterday...

"You're on!" Sora grinned as made his way out the last bit of the tunnel, Riku right behind him.

Riku's eyes gleamed from more than the sudden sunshine. _Got him!_ "Let's go!"

The two ran off, Riku with a slight lead. "Come on, that's cheating!"

"You've done the same thing!"

The laughter echoed throughout the now empty cave, that was filled with darkness once more.

* * *

The warm colors of the day's end had already mostly faded and the stars were speckled across the sky. The evenings here were beautiful, no matter what Riku might say about the rest of the world. It showed just a glimpse of stars and worlds unseen, coated in a slight warmth from sunset. It'd be late soon though, and if this didn't work out, Riku still wanted dinner. "Hey Sora! You ready to go take a look?"

Sora grinned as he got out of his boat. "You better be grateful for this, it was really difficult convincing my mom to come... Also, uh, I think Kairi saw me so she'll be here in a bit." Sora ended sheepishly.

Armed with flashlights, they quickly started heading over to the Secret Place. "Well that's fine," Riku shrugged, "Kairi should be here if this door really does lead to anything. Otherwise, we could accidentally leave her behind."

Sora's eyes widened a bit. "That'd be terrible!"

Riku smirked in the darkness of the cave they had just entered. "Yeah, I'm sure you especially would hate that."

Riku didn't even need to see Sora's face to know he was blushing. "Th- th- that's not true at all!"

"Right, right, I suppose you don't need that paopu fruit you were talking about after all huh..." Sora had won yet again, unfortunately, in the race earlier and race rematch earlier, so not only had Riku had to catch fish for their supplies, he also had to get a paopu fruit. It was only 2 to 3, Riku would overtake him again soon... he was sure of it.

"Well you already gave me it, so..." Sora frowned, and then blushed again. "Wait, what are you making me talk about?!"

"I didn't make you talk about anything, you could have just ignored me after all." Riku turned back around. " Anyway, we're here."

"Right. So, how do you think it opens?" Sora asked going up to the mysterious door.

The sudden footsteps echoed ominously in the cave. "Isn't it obvious? To open a door, you need a key."

Sora turned quickly on his heel. "You again?"

"A key?" Riku paused in mid step. A person from another world, and a key... "Do you mean...?"

Riku could almost feel the smugness coming off this guy in waves. "Open your heart and look for answer."

Sora slumped. "What the heck does that mean...? Hey are you just dodging the question?!"

Open your heart... Riku nodded to himself slightly. It wasn't to hard to at least try, and that old man would just avoid the question for hours, if he had his way. So, Riku focused inward...or at least he tried. "Sora, why are you still yelling?"

"He's a creep!"

"Well can't disagree with you there." Riku sighed inwardly. He still was their biggest lead on how to open this door however. So Riku began to focus again, this time on the image of a key. It was a familiar image for some reason, but before he could track down why, light flashed bright against his eyes.  
  
When he blinked, Riku's arm was suddenly outstretched, holding a large key. Riku didn't remember holding out his arm, but the key was all he could pay attention to right now. It almost seemed unreal, like... Riku wasn't sure. "Is this...the key?"

"Good job, now, open the door." They turned and found the hooded figure had disappeared again.

"What a creepy guy…" Sora muttered once more.

Riku and Sora glanced at each other and then looked down at the key. Riku began to smile somewhat without noticing. That really wasn't a dream back then. "So this is the key...it's pretty big."

Sora looked at it with a bit of awe. "Can I hold it?"

Riku gave him a _look_.

Sora pouted, an expression he really needed to stop using soon. "Pleeease?"

"Fine." Riku held it out, the point (Tip? What was the terminology for a giant key anyway?) towards Sora.

Sora grabbed it slowly with both hands, and stared at it in amazement. "This is incredible, Riku!"

Sora settled the hilt/handle of the key in his hands, and began to swing it around like a sword.

"Hey, be careful with that!" Riku gasped and reached out a hand to Sora. And then with a flash of light, found it back in his hands once more. "Huh. Guess I don't need to worry about anyone stealing it..."

"Hey Riku?" Sora's voice continued cheerfully as if directly ignoring what had just happened.

Riku was immediately suspicious. "Yes?"

"Can I open the door?"

"Eh?"

Sora nodded to his unspoken question. "Yeah, I just wanna try it, it seems... like maybe it'll be cool! Besides you own the giant key, I'm sure you can find your own weird door to open with it!"

Riku looked down. "Well, I feel like its my job to do that though, not you."

Sora tackled Riku. "C'mon, it won't hurt anything, lemme at it!"

"Fine!" Riku snapped, struggling under Sora weight.

"Yes!" Sora grabbed the keyblade, and pointed it at the door. "Alright, door you're going dow--"

The older boy's words were cut off by a sudden glow at the end of the key as a laser shot out of it at a glowing keyhole in front of the door. A loud clicking rung throughout the cavern as all sounds but the flowing waterfall outside and the wind suddenly stopped. The cave suddenly seemed darker than just dusk could bring.

The keyblade reappeared back in Riku's hands, as if sensing the growing unease in his heart. Riku lowered his stance and looked around briefly meeting eyes with Sora. He had no idea what just happened either.

Riku's head shot around sharply, hearing something behind him. "Is that hissing?"

"What?"

Before they could find out the source, a scream rang sharply against the silence. The two boys knew immediately who that was, and were running before the echoes had even faded. "Kairi!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Old AN: Hello this is my first fanfiction on this account, and my first AU. I've been looking forward to writing this for a while, so I'm glad summer is finally here.
> 
> New AN: in a way, its pretty ironic that i'm posting this 5 summers later haha. in hindsight, i wish i'd done more with kairi's character, shes basically the same as canon, which means, gone after 10 minutes


	2. Chapter 2

When they exited the Secret Place the beach was empty, but the sky once clear and filled with stars, was dark and stormy. Riku stared in shock at the sudden weather change, but then realized the main problem. Kairi wasn't on the beach. "Where is she? I see her boat…"

Sora began running off. "Maybe she's on the other side of the island! She might have thought we went to check on the raft!"

Riku nodded, Kairi didn't know about the incident earlier, so she would think that. "Right!"

What was supposed to be a quick run across the island was stopped in its tracks only seconds later. Dark shapes rose out of the shadows around them, blocking their path. Riku brandished the key towards one of them. "What is that?"

One jumped out and attacked Sora, causing him to bite his tongue from the pain. "Ow!"

"Sora!" Riku swung the key out the offending shape, half from instinct. Sora rubbed his thigh where he was bit, as Riku finished off whatever it was. "This must be why Kairi screamed. I'll make a path, get ready to run!"

Sora stood up unsteadily, and nodded. "Right. Be careful, their bites hurt."

Riku charged into the waves of monsters, swinging the key in a wide arc. Quickly regaining his balance from the failed swing, he finished off those he had hit with several quick blows. After clearing two more, Sora ran through, Riku right behind him. "Let's try not to get cornered like that again."

Sora laughed sharply, still on edge. "Will do."

The two raced over to the door to find that it wouldn't open. "Why won't it open?"

Sora leaned against the wall to rest. "I dunno. Maybe Kairi didn't go this way, or she ran from those things?"

Riku sighed. "Probably. That's the logical thing to do at least. Let's go to the shack, check on that leg of yours."

Defeating a few more monsters on the way, they slipped into the shack to rest for a second. Riku crouched down by Sora's tired form, once the door was locked. "Did that thing break the skin?"

Sora pulled up his pant leg to look. No blood had leaked through the pant leg but... "I think I've got a wounds here that'll bleed badly, but fortunately we have bandages in this shack, right? This is the right one?"

Riku stood and reached up to a shelf above them. "Yeah. None of them are too deep right? Looks like we've out of bandages for that sorta thing..."

"Um, one seems deep, but the rest only need band-aids." Sora said after a considering look at his leg.

Riku sighed. "Right then, first aid class, here we go."

Riku took a couple band-aids and start applying them as best he could, which was very, very, crooked.

Sora blinked down at it, holding back a laugh. "Um, do you really know-"

"Yes. I had two whole semesters of it," Riku grit his teeth as tried to cover the gash as best he could. "Trust me I know what I'm doing, I just… haven't used this brand of band-aids before."

"Riiight then."

Riku stood up quickly. "Let's go before we need to test these skills again."

Sora laughed. "Yes, doctor."

Riku walked quietly up to the upstairs door. "Let's check the other side of the island."

Sora got up gingerly and followed after him. "Yeah, let's hurry."

Riku leaned up against the door, trying to hear if anything was around. "I don't think too many of those things are here, we should be fine..."

Sora, smiling briefly to Riku when he got up there, quickly opened the shack's door. "Then go!"

Riku began striking each shadowy creature that came in there path, but found himself gasping for breath after a couple minutes of this. Protecting two people at once was harder than he thought, and they still had no idea where Kairi was.

"Riku!" He turned from his latest foe at Sora's call. What had happened now, Riku wondered glumly.

Apparently that feeling was communicated, as Sora shook his head quickly. "Look over there at the Secret Place! There's a door on it!"

Riku jumped back from the latest target to a better look. Sora was right, there was a door on it. Why would there be another door..? "Maybe Kairi's there?" Riku questioned out loud. It was shelter... of a sort.

"We might as well look!" Sora replied. Unspoken was the implication that they weren't getting anywhere out here anyways.

Sora and Riku ran over to the door. Sora stared at it for a moment. "Do you think it opens normally?"

Riku face-palmed. He couldn't help it, no matter how strange this situation was, that was still a dumb question. "Well, it has a doorknob, doesn't it?"

Sora faded a bit. "Er yeah, right, that was obvious wasn't it...?" Sora meekly said as he opened the door.

He snorted. "You really need to grow a bit more of a backbone there, you were way too meek just now." Riku jabbed.

"Hey!" Sora glared. That was better, they did _not_ need to be downhearted right now. Sora would probably get himself killed if he wasn't paying attention, and irritation really was a wonderful tool to do just that.

Riku continued forward into the dark cave, satisfied with this conclusion. He blinked. Was it getting brighter up ahead?

Riku ran the last few steps, his bad feeling pushing him forward. "Kairi?!"

She turned slowly to face them both. "Riku...Sora..."

A sudden burst of wind from inside the door pushed her forward easily, making Riku worry further about her. How weak would you have to be feeling to fall that easily? Riku jumped at her in concern, only for her disappear in his hands.

Sora gasped, having only just made around the corner, with all the sudden wind. "Kairi!"

Before they could consider the effects of this further, the wind got even worse blowing the two of them off their feet. "Damn it!" Riku called out as they fell back through the rest of the cave to where they started. Or so he thought. When he had rubbed the sand out his eyes, he found that he wasn't where he thought he was at all. Or at least, Riku thought bitterly, it didn't exist any more. The two of them were standing on a single island floating in a giant storm. He called it an island, but it was more of a rock with some sand and a tree on it. No sign of the island they had grown up on, or the ocean he had longed to see the other side of. All that was left was the storm and the darkness.

Even as he thought this, more pieces of the islands, his _home_ , flew off into some dark hole in the sky. "This... this is my fault isn't it?" After all, what's the point of exploring if you die in the process?

Sora snapped out of his horrified gaze. "What? No-

A loud slamming noise went crashing through their ears before Sora could speak further. The two boys looked nervously at the location of the noise. On the edge of the shrinking island was a giant hand, black and clawed.

Riku backed up, slowly lowering himself back into the fighting pose again. Another hand reached up, and with sudden movement the entirety of the creature was visible. It looked like a giant, pitch black, eyes glowing. It was the heart-shaped hole in its chest, though, that really showed how inhuman it was. 

The key-bearer tried not to shiver. "That's a lot bigger than our last few opponents."

Sora visibly gulped. "I- I saw thing in one of my dreams recently. Its even worse in real life..."

Riku dodged the thing fist as it closed in on him. "Oh, so you've been fantasizing about dying painfully? That's good to know!" Riku yelled back at him as he attempted to attack the monster.

"Why would I fantasize about it when its happening?" Sora yelled back from his perch in the tree. Riku knew he was dying to come and help in reality, but hey, he's the one with the magical weapon, not Sora.

"Well, I dunno, ask your dream self that, maybe he'll have some advice!" Riku dodged another strike at him, and cursed quietly when the tiny monsters started crawling out from the darkness underneath the fist. 

Riku backed off, not wanting to get surrounded. They followed, _naturally_. "Because while it might not look it, I really need some help over here!"

Sora put on a look of deep concentration and started muttering under his breath about something or another. Riku ignored him, like he had time for that.

Riku slashed at the things crowding him and stared up at the giant before him. It only seemed the slightest bit injured, how much more damage would he have to do?

"I got it!" Sora cried. "The eyes! Go for the eyes!"

"Yeah, that does seem like a _great_ weak spot, but how am I even supposed to get up there! It's like 20 feet tall!" he bit angrily.

Riku didn't even have to look back at him as he dodged two fireballs. He already knew Sora was just shrugging back there, without a care in the world. "Well, jump, I guess!"

"Thanks, these words of wisdom will," Riku grunted after being hit with several more scratches from the shadowy ants. "...go down in history!"

"Thanks, but at least try and do something!" Sora refuted, obviously frustrated with the repeated denials of his usual tactics. "Right now, you're just gonna lose!"

Riku just muttered a few nasty words under his breath in response.

Just then, the giant swung its fist down again, bringing itself into a crouching position. "I still think jumping 10 feet is impossible, but..." Riku ran forward at the head of the monster at top speed. "This seems like a great chance to test your other theory!"

Riku slammed the key between the two glowing eyes, and watched as the entire thing collapsed.

"Yes!" Sora cheered from behind.

He smirked in response, and raised his blade up for another blow, which was, unfortunately, interrupted with the vacuum sensation from earlier. Riku dove a nearby piece of dock, and watched as the giant was quickly sucked into the black hole in the sky. The boys gulped. That hole seemed a lot bigger now...

"Riku!" Sora screamed over the loud noise of wind.

"Yeah?!"

"I don't think I can hold on!" A glance showed the younger boy that the tree Sora was holding on to was beginning to be sucked up. Of course the dock wasn't better...

"Then, see you on the other side?" Riku smiled weakly.

"Yeah..."

Their two handholds fell apart as one as the two boys gave each other one last solemn nod.

Far away from the once peaceful islands, a certain knight looked up into the night sky as a star blinked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original AN: And that's chapter two! The battle segment was hard, but banter always flows so easily. Sora and Riku have a great dynamic, so I'm really sad they don't meet up again after this for the most part. Next chapter Riku's on his own, which has some fun observations to write, but I honestly can't wait til he meets Donald and Goofy. Talking and battling is more fun than wandering by yourself.
> 
> Current: Honestly, I feel like this is where my love of writing conversations came from. Everything I wrote after this story, my favorite was always the banter haha


End file.
